Inserting special characters

A "special" character is one not found on a standard English keyboard. For example, © ¾ æ ç ñ ö ø ¢ are all special characters. To insert a special character:

1. Place the cursor where you want the character to appear.
2. Click Insert > Special Character to open the Special Characters window (Figure 7).
3. Select the characters you wish to insert, in order, then click OK. The selected characters are shown in the lower left of the dialog. As you select a character, it is shown on the lower right, along with its numerical code.

Note: Different fonts include different special characters. If you do not find a particular special character, try changing the Font selection.

The Special Characters window.

Tip: Notice that the characters selected appear in the bottom-left corner of the window.

Inserting dashes and non-breaking spaces

En and em dashes

You can insert a dash by using the Special Characters window or by using the Replace dashes option under Tools > AutoCorrect > Options.

– is an en-dash; that is, a dash the width of the letter "n" in the font you are using. It is U+2013 (scroll down to the General Punctuation section in the Special Characters window). To enter an en-dash using AutoCorrect, type at least one character, a space, two hyphens, another space, and at least one more letter, then a space. The two hyphens will be replaced by an en-dash.

— is an em-dash; that is, a dash the width of the letter "m" in the font you are using. It is U+2014. To enter it using AutoCorrect, type at least one character, two hyphens, and at least one more character, then a space. The two hyphens will be replaced by an em-dash.

Non-breaking spaces

To insert a non-breaking space (to keep characters together, for example in a telephone number), press Control+Space on the keyboard.

Non-breaking hyphen

You can use a non-breaking hyphen in cases where you do not want the hyphen to appear at the end of a line. Examples of non-breaking hyphens are: in a range such as A‑Z or the hyphens in a telephone number, such as 123‑4567. To insert a non-breaking hyphen, press Shift+Control+minus sign.